Rock Band 3: We've Played the Full Set List

Share.

Keytar heroes of the world, unite!

By Hilary Goldstein

Rock Band 3 takes a big step forward this year not only adding keyboard support but also offering a Pro mode for each instrument. The Pro mode has you playing the actual notes from each song on keyboard guitar and drums. No more random clicking of buttons -- now the clicking of buttons has a purpose!

The special Mustang Pro Guitar comes with more than 100 buttons that replicate the fret board of a real guitar. All those finger placements you must make on Expert difficulty are totally legit. The next step is switching to a real guitar and blazing on some actual strings.

The keyboard is well half a full keyboard -- that's two octaves. While that's not exactly a perfect recreation of a keyboard you will be able to play the notes from 63 different songs in Rock Band in a way you never could before.

I bring up Pro Mode because it's a major consideration when talking about the 83 tracks in Rock Band 3. After all this is the first Rock Band game where there are two totally different ways to play. If you're using the standard methods (banging the drums without the cymbal add-ons or having to use just five keys in the "normal" keyboard modes) it's a different experience than if you're playing like a Pro.

Of course it's not really worth playing the instruments if the songs stink. Rock Band 3 has a really interesting different and unique set of tracks. Honestly some of this stuff.... it's just -- who would ever think they'd be playing Elton John in a Rock Band game? Or Warren Zevon? Or the Smiths? And yet thanks in large part to the addition of the keyboard the music makes sense.

Beach Boys "Good Vibrations (Live)" David Bowie "Space Oddity" The Doors "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" James Brown "I Got You (I Feel Good)" The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Crosstown Traffic" The Who "I Can See for Miles"

I think someone at Harmonix found a mix tape I made in high school to use for the basis of the Rock Band 3 track list. I was mostly into The Cure and The Smiths and anything that made me seem sensitive and in touch with my emotions in hopes girls would then want to get in touch with me. But I also had a few headbangers thrown in to keep things legit.

All-in-all it's a solid 83 songs -- an eclectic mix probably best when you import tracks from the first two games (yes, you can do this!) and use your downloadable content (giving you a library of up to 2000 songs). Swirl all that around and you should have the most well-rounded music collection you could hope for.

Playing with the standard controllers (with the five-key "simple" keyboard option) there's a lot of cool songs. Some are just plain fun to play including The Flaming Lips' incredible "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1" and Huey Lewis and the News' "The Power of Love."

It doesn't seem like Harmonix's goal was to artificially create impossible challenges for plastic-band musicians. There's a good balance of difficulty but the choices seem much more about assembling a well-rounded group of songs (that favor keyboard play just a touch) rather than picking songs specifically to make things hard on players. But yes there are some really challenging songs. "Llama" by Phish just might break you -- on every single instrument. It's a bit of a monster in that way.

The real challenge comes with the Pro versions of instruments. If you've never played piano before and you jump onto the keyboard even simple songs can prove nightmarish at first. And once you do have a hang of the keys even moderate songs on the higher difficulties will likely tax your talents more than any previous Rock Band tracks. It's just such a vastly different way to play that it really made me view a lot of the tracks in a totally different way. Playing Lennon's "Imagine" on the regular keyboard is fun but it can't compare to playing the actual keys and experiencing the one-to-one ratio of button-presses to audio.

That's what's really cool about Rock Band 3. You have the option to dive in with an old familiar comfort game (same guitar play same drum play same vocals with the addition of harmonies even the "simple" keyboard play fits right in) or you can take on a totally new challenge with the Pro Mode and get something totally new.

I played both sides of things through the various songs and think this is my favorite set list for the series (not including The Beatles: Rock Band). While there are still songs I just have zero interest in playing there are far more songs I can't get enough of. And I thought there was no way I could get interested in another music game. White Snake? Yes! "Rainbow in the Dark"? Eff yes! B52's? Eww. I'd say if Harmonix delivers an enthusiastic "yes" for two out of every three songs they've done their job.

Rock Band 3 ships in late October but we'll be rocking it tonight in the IGN offices.